There are nearly twenty countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, from Italy, Spain, and France to Turkey, Syria, Libya, and Egypt. In comparison to American diets, almost all traditional Mediterranean diets include a healthy amount of fish, olive oil, whole grains, nuts, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Furthermore, before the globalization of readily-available manufactured foods, most Mediterranean cultures ate foods that were seasonal and locally grown, because that was what was most readily available.

Unlike other diet fads, the Mediterranean diet isn’t about deprivation or obsessive calorie counting. Rather, the Mediterranean diet is about a lifestyle change – a change from fast food to slow food, from lots of meats to lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Some Americans are concerned that a Mediterranean diet lifestyle would take too much time and cost too much money. However, as we’ll see below, it’s possible to eat healthy while sticking to a reasonable budget.

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Known for its multitude of health benefits, fish has deservingly earned “miracle food” status. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, lower cholesterol, or even reduce arthritis pain, adding fish to your diet is key.

Not surprisingly, more and more doctors recommend the Mediterranean Diet for their patients. With a focus on fruits, vegetables, nuts, red wine, and fish (specifically blue fish, sardines, tuna, and anchovies), this eating plan proves to be one of the best heart-healthy diets available.

A Rich in Fish Diet Health Benefits

Don’t despair if you’re a meat and potatoes kind of eater—incorporating more fish into your daily lifestyle is actually easier and more fun than you might think. For example, grilled fish steaks served on toasted buns make a great alternative to traditional hamburgers. Instead of the standard fried chicken dish, try breaded oven-baked catfish. Or simply add some grilled salmon to your favorite salad. The options are endless.

While all fish can provide those wonderful omega-3 fatty acids, doctors do recommend some types of fish above others.

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Valentine’s Day is all about love and is filled with images of hearts, including hearts on greeting cards, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, tiny heart candies with affectionate sayings and heart-shaped boxes holding precious, little gifts.

Although all of this emphasis is placed on hearts and love, we sometimes show our affection for our loved ones with gifts and celebrations that are not so heart healthy, like heavy meals at steakhouses filled with red meat and butter-laden potatoes, high cholesterol sweets and other high calorie treats that play a role in obesity, heart disease and diabetes, rather than showing our loved ones our affection by giving them gifts that show them we would like them to be around for a long time and that encourage healthy eating.

Heart-healthy Valentine’s Day gifts do not have to be boring or unsavory; to the contrary, gifts that might actually make your boyfriend’s or husband’s doctor proud can be quite delicious and fun. If the man – or woman – in your life is currently managing diabetes, heart disease, elevated cholesterol levels, high blood pressure or obesity, there are many healthy Valentine’s Day food gift options that will show just how much you love them and will provide tasty, special treats that will delight their taste buds, while also fitting their dietary restrictions and promoting heart health.

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How to Cut the Cancer Risk by 12%

December 1, 2009

The Mediterranean diet (MD) has its roots with our Greek and Roman ancestors, inhabitants of the Mediterranean region that was the birthplace of modern civilization. The well-known staple of the Mediterranean diet, olive oil, was used by the Ancient Greeks as a substitute for animal fat, a food they deemed unhealthy.
During the last few [...]

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Drink red wine to cut off the risk of heart diseases and keep your heart healthy

September 10, 2009

Discover what foods you can eat to prevent heart disease and how to lower your risk of heart attack with red wines

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[Video] How to cook pasta – Tricks and Instructions to cooking it perfectly

September 5, 2009

Directions

When the water is rolling boil, add salt.
Add all the pasta to the boiling water at once
Cover the pot to make it boiling as soon as possible.
Stir it often with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking.
One minute or so before the stated time (see the pasta package), check the pasta to see how chewy it [...]

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Cancer prevention and health benefits of eating an apple a day

September 1, 2009

An apple a day keeps the doctor away
Now we know that it’s true. A recent study confirms the health benefit of Apples.
A diet rich in fruits and veg has a preventive role in avoiding the risks of cancer and diseases.
[Translated] The study conduced by the Italian Cancer League [Translated] says that eating 1 [...]

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[Video] Diet and foods that naturally lower blood pressure

August 28, 2009

In this video dr. Robert Kowalski shares his tips on how to lower blood pressure with food.
He explains how to lower blood pressure with the Mediterranean diet.
The Mediterranean diet is so famous thanks to the studies conduced by Dr. Ancel keys (The father of the Med diet concept) about the lower heart disease rates of [...]

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A healthy snack idea: The Mediterranean cracker with cheese and tomatoes

August 10, 2009

Here a single idea to choose a snack that mix all the Mediterranean in a cracker…
It’s a product of the Barilla Group that I buy in Italy.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour
Tomato (20%)
Not hydrogenated vegetable fats
Extra virgin olive oil (2,8%)
Salt
Cheese grain (Parmesan) (1,65%)
Barley flour
Oregano (0,5%)
Natural yeast
Eggs

Nutrition information for 1 serving (1 ounce)

135 Kcal
Protein 2.8
Carbohydrates 21.2
Fat 4.3

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Recipe – Italian Spaghetti with Eggplants and Tomato

August 5, 2009

Ingredients for 4 people:
- 3 Eggplants
- 1 Piece of Garlic
- Pepper
- Salt
- Olive Oil
- Tomato sauce
- Pasta (spaghetti) 400 gr.
Process:

Step 1: Cut the eggplants into slices and put them in salted water for 30 minutes
Step 2: Fry the eggplants with olive oil
Step 3: Prepare the tomato sauce

Put in a pan the tomato sauce with a [...]

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